IES-Library

IES-Library

Make better render with real-world-lighting

There are 837'912 IES-files available with preview

Users downloaded 3'079'309 IES-Files from this site

Browse library

Why this?

IES files describe how light from a lamp is distributed in a room. This data is provided by many manufacturers so that lighting designers can realistically simulate how a project will look when a specific light source is used.

3D artists also use this data to calculate their images more realistically. However, it is cumbersome to find the correct file using try and error, as the manufacturer does not necessarily include a visual example.

For this reason this page was created. We have enriched existing IES collections with manufacturer data and have reached almost 200'000 data in the end. Using python we read the data, hashed the content as MD5 and assigned the data to the individual manufacturers. Thereby we eliminated duplicates. After this process, there was "only" 160'000 data left.

After that we created a scene in Blender, where a light source hangs 5cm in front of a wall and 1m above the floor. We then calculated this scene automatically for each IES file using python.

The goal was that the preview images should have more or less the same brightness. Therefore we first had to calculate a preview and measure the maximum brightness, adjust the light intensity and finally calculate the image. During this process, data that are too dark are filtered out (luminous intensity = infinity)

What else?

Our computer boasts an impressive daily processing capacity of approximately 7,200 files, which are seamlessly loaded onto this page and integrated into our database via a cron job. It took approximately three weeks to process the initial batch of 160,000 files...

In cases where the manufacturer provides Luminous Data Transfer (LDT or Eulumdat) instead of IES data, we have ensured data compatibility by converting it, making both data types readily available for download. Some manufacturers even offer both data types, and you can find both files here.

In the interim, we've enhanced our platform with additional features, including tagging and logging options. Once logged in, users have the ability to mark data as favorites.

As of late September 2023, our database has expanded to encompass a staggering 400,000 IES files, with many more awaiting processing in our system...

With the Blender plugin Ieslibrary4Blender, available on GitHub, you can easily import IES-Lights into Blender. The plugin make use of our API that enables the seamless extraction of information from ieslibrary.com directly into Blender.

Equirectangular Camera Inside a Cube!

Get ready to witness light like never before! We've placed an equirectangular camera inside a cube, and the results are nothing short of mesmerizing. This innovative feature will illustrate how light illuminates in 3D, offering a fresh perspective on illumination dynamics.

While we're excited to unveil this feature, please note that it will take some time to process all 400,000 IES files. We're working diligently to ensure that this experience is worth the wait.